Ron Neis

“The first thing we experienced was an acute bread shortage, because the Butter Krust bakery at 10th and S. Kansas was destroyed”

I was 18 years old on June 8, 1966. I was working at Sandy’s Drive-In at S.W. 6th and MacVicar. (When radio reports of a tornado hitting southwest Topeka starting coming in) everyone immediately went into shutdown mode — cutting off water, gas, we took the money to the basement. We stayed in the basement until more accurate information started coming in.

The first thing we experienced was an acute bread shortage, because the Butter Krust bakery at 10th and S. Kansas was destroyed, and I believe the Jordan bakery had some damage and they were out of commission. When we got caught up on bread and had some buns again, then we ran out of hamburger patties. Finally, Griff’s at S.E. 29th and Adams agreed to loan us 200 to 300.